
Book_ ^J' 



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zV DISCOUESE 



DELIVERED IN WASHINGTON, D. C _^ 



Day of Humiliation a:nd Peayee, 



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/ 



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EEV. T. B. HOWLETT. 



PASTOR OF THE 



CALVARY BAPTIST CHURCH 




WASHINGTON, D. C. 

GIBSON BROTHERS, PRINTERS. 

1865. 



Washington, D. C, June 5, 1865. 

Kev. T. 11. HowLETT : 

Dear Slr.—TliQ undersigned having listened with pleasm-e 
and niUL-h satisfaction to the discourse delivered by you in the E Street 
Baptist Church, before the united congregations of the E Street and 
Calvary Baptist Churches, on the observance of the day appointed for 
Humiliation arid Prayer on account of the assassination ox Abraham 
Lincoln, late President of the United States, respectfully request thr- 
same in full for publication. 

AMOS KENDALL, 
GEORGE W. McLELLAN, 
C. S. BUTTS, 
GEORGE WOOD, 
E. A. PARKER, 
S. V. BOYD, 
DAVID HAYES, 
W3I. STICKNEV. 



Hon. Amos Kkxdall, Hon. G. W. McLellan, and otliors : 

Gentlemen, — In compliance with your re(^ue.'?t. I cheerfally 
place at your disposal a copy of the discourse preached in the E Street 
Baptist Church on the 1st inst. I feel honored by this expression of 
your accord and approbation of the sentiments set forth, and trust the 
day is not distant when they shall be cherished by all. both in this city 
and throughout our common country. 

Yours, respectfully. 

T. 11. HOWLETT, 

Pantor of Colcanj Baptist CJiurcli. 
Wasiiixgtox. D. C, .iune 5, 1865. 



A DISCOURS 




Psalm cxlvii, 20. — "Ho hath not dealt so with any nation." 

The nation here spoken of was Israel. It was a faithful testimony 
which David gave in the text, whether we regard his language as refer- 
ring to the mercies or judgments of Gqd. The Lord had dealt with 
this nation, as with no other, in its origin. It sprang from Abraham 
the "friend of God." Unto him Jehovah said : " Get thee out of thv 
countr}^ and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house unto a land 
that I will show thee, and I will make of thee a great nation.'' Their 
history shows us the fulfillment of this promise. God's distinguishino- 
goodness appears in the choice of their inheritance. " When the Most 
High separated the sons of Adam, when He divided the nations their 
inheritance, He set the bounds of the people according to the number of 
the children of Israel." The same truth appeared in their reli<rious ad- 
vantages. Other nations walked in the darkness of heathenism, but 
unto them were committed the lively oracles. "'God was in their 
midst — their very j)resent help in trouble." To sum up all in the fewest 
words, we may say He dealt with them " by temptations, by signs, by 
wonders, by war, by a mighty hand, by a stretched out arm, and by 
great terrors." The Psalm, with which the text stands connected, is a 
review of their history through successive centuries. The text itself is 
the conclusion to which the inspired author comes. 

I hope I do not abuse this beautiful passage in applying it to our own 
country. Is it not as true of us as of ancient Israel ? May not x\nieri- 
cans also say " He hath not dealt so with any nation ?" 

The hand of God's Providence appears as distinctly in our origin as 
in that of the Hebrew commonwealth. 

How unlike other nations are we in this respect. Take those of 
Europe for example. They were once rude, and barbarous, and savage. 
They have attained to their present state of enlightenment, prosperity, 
and strength by the growth of ages. What were the ancient Britons 



when Cfiesar marshalled his legions and displayed the Roman eagles on 
their shores ? They were a barbarian race — as wild and fierce as the 
savage tribes whom our fathers found in the unbroken forests of the 
New World. 

How different our origin. The founders of this nation were the 
choicest spirits of the most cultivated communities of the Old World. 
They were men of intelligence, courage, high moral character, true 
Christian principle. Nobler blood than theirs never warmed the human 
heart. They were exiles of righteousness, pilgrims and sojourners in a 
strange laud for conscience sake. The scowl of power could not intimi- 
date them ; the favor of crowned heads could not seduce them. They 
were higher than the kings whose edicts banished them, for they were 
" great in the sight of the Lord " Such were the men whose character, 
principles and influence, like the solid granite of the everlasting hills of 
their own New England, laid the foundation and built the structure, of 
American civilization and nationality. All honor to these heroic, God- 
like men, who braved the dangers of wintry seas and the more frightful 
dangers of the wilderness, that they might in Western wilds found a 
" Church without a Bishop," and establish " a State without a King." 
Of them this nation was born, and well may we exult over our origin. 

" Uur boast is not that we deduce our birlh 
From loins enthroned, and rulers of the earth ; 
But higher far our proud pretensions rise, 
The sous of parents passed into the skies." 

Again, if we consider the goodly heritage which the Lord has given 
us, we have cause to i^ay, *' He hath not dealt so with any nation." 

The land of Canaan v/as an exceedingly good land. It abounded in 
fountains and streams, and orchards, and vineyards. It yielded fruits of 
the choicest kinds. Its pastures were clothed with flocks ; its valleys 
were covered with corn. It flowed with milk and honey. In it the peo- 
ple ate bread without scarceness. 

But what was it either in its extent, or the variety and abundance of 
its productions, compared with our land V From east to west, from 
north to south, it might be measured by the journey of a few days. But 
ours stretches from the bristling regions of the north to the sunny fields 
of the south, where summer forever reigns; and from the troubled 
waters of the Atlantic to the peaceful waves of the Pacific. The Eastern 
and the Western Oceans lift up their billows for its defence, and the 
voice of their many waters cry to the crowned heads of other lands, 
"thus far ghalt thou come, hut no farther.^' 



Time would fail me to tell of the variety and beauty of American 
scenery, of the diversity and bounty of our productions, of our exhaust- 
less resources which have scarcely begun to be developed. The Valley 
of the Mississippi is more fruitful than Palestine and ancient Egypt com- 
bined, and could furnisli the world with bread. We have single moun- 
tains in whose bosom is stored wealth sufficient to pay our national debt. 
But of these things I need not speak. It is enough to know that it 
excels all other lands, and that in so rich a gift God has "not dealt so 
with any nation." 

Again, as an evidence and illustration of tlie truth of the text in its ap- 
plication to ourselves, I might mention the prosperity and growth of our 
country. In this respect we also are without a parallel in history. 

There are men now living who saw the day on which the foundations 
of our Government were laid. During their lifetime it has passed from 
infancy to manhood — it has grown from a child to a giant, beneath 
whose strong right arm the oppressed of all nations find protection. 
Contrast our present condition with what it was at the close of the Rev- 
olution. We were then few in number, small in influence, and weak in 
resources. The life of the country was well nigh exhausted in the strug- 
gle for independence. What a change has taken place since that day I 
The wilderness and the solitary place have blossomed as the rose. Our 
valleys have echoed to the songs of the reapers. Our hills have smiled 
with culture carried to their tops. Villages, towns, cities, have sprung 
up all over the land. In the contemplation of their number and magni- 
tude we are bewildered and become like them that dream. The prows 
of our ships plough every river, lake and sea. The iron horse neighs to 
his neighbor on the far distant prairie, where but yesterday the wolf and 
the bufi'alo and the wild Indian roamed, and speeds with his ponderous 
train towards the setting sun, as on the wings of the wind. Thought, 
on nerves of iron, outstrips the flight of time, and at a single pulsation 
overwhelms with sorrow or thrills with joy the inhabitants of the whole 
land. 

Our population has kept pace with the march of our other prosperity, 
until we have increased from three millions to thirty millions of souls. 
All this in the lifetime of a man ! Surely lie hath "not dealt so with 
any nation." 

Again, the truth of our text appears in the measure of civil and reli- 
gious liberty enjoyed by us as compared with other nations of the earth. 

"With a great sum," have we andour fathers "obtained this freedom." 
It cost them the struggle of the Revolution to establish the first great 
principle of the Declaration, that "all men are created free and equal.'^ 
It has cost us the severer struggle of a mightier war to maintain it. 



Long before the Revolution the conflict for religious liberty began. 
The battle though moral and spiritual was real and earnest. We, as a 
denomination, have especial cause to be grateful that it was not fought 
in vain. The Baptists were the first to advocate and espouse the prin- 
ciple of unrestricted freedom in the worship of God. They did it in 
the face of opposition from Church and State, and against the prejudice 
of the whole human race. For its sake they were imprisoned and fined 
and banished. But the principle itself wgs not banished. It grew 
stronger and increased in favor with the people until it was incorporated 
into the Constitution of our country, and therein delared that "Congress 
shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion, or prohibit- 
ing the free exercise thereof." 

Thus, cotemporary with the establishment of the Union was the Tree 
of Liberty planted. She was placed by our fathers in a soil enriched 
by their tears, their treasure and their blood, and commended to the 
gracious favor of God. Throughout the North she " grew like the olive 
tree" and " cast forth her roots like Lebanon." But for the blifi^htinsj 
airs of slaver ij she would long since have overshadowed the whole land. 
They retarded her growth and withered some of her branches for a season, 
but could not destroy her life. In spite of every hindrance she grew. 
Entwining her roots about the granite hills of the East, and extending 
them westward beyond the Alleghenies, over the valley of the Missis- 
sippi to the Rocky Mountains, and lifting her broad arms high she has, 
in our day, grappled with the storm cloud of rebellion and oppression, 
and tossing it to the skies in triumph, waves over us in beauty, her 
every leaf marked with the red sweat-drops of her foe in the struggle. 
Henceforth she shall grow up to the heavens. She shall stretch her 
boughs southward as well as northward and her leaves shall be as green 
by the Savannah and the Santee as on the banks of the Merrimac, or by 
the Falls of Niagara, where ' many waters thunder their ceaseless 
and majestic anthem to the God of the free. She shall yield her fruit 
in its season at the mouth of the Mississippi, as well as at its source. 
She shall flourish beside all waters, and under her shadow a free press, free 
speech, free thought, and a free people shall " revive as the corn/' and 
"grow as the vine, " according to the prophetic word. Truly this is 
the Lord's doing and it is marvellous in our eyes. " He hath not dealt 
so with any nation." 

The declaration of the text is as true with respect to our afflictions as 
our mercies. Israel was dealt with " by temptations, by signs, by won- 
ders, by war, by a mighty hand, by a stretched out arm, by great ter- 
rors." We, as a nation, have been dealt with in like manner. 



We are this day tossed with conflicting emotions, and know not 
whether most to rejoice or mourn. Our condition is like that of the 
Hebrews when the foundation of the second temple was laid. "All the 
people shouted with a great shout because the foundation of the house of 
the Lord was laid. But many of the ancient men that had seen the 
first house wdien the foundation of this house w\ns laid before their eyes 
wept with a loud voice ; and many shouted aloud for joy ; so that the 
people could not discern the noise of the shout of joy from the noise of 
the weeping of the people." 

So is it this day in our highly fiivored, and yet deeply afflicted land. 
It is difficult to say whether this should be observed as an occasion of 
thanksgiving and praise over the success that has crowned our arms and 
the brightening prospects of peace, throughout our borders, or of 
humiliation and prayer, under the calamity that has overwhelmed with 
sorrow our own nation, and stunned with horror the whole world. Since 
the last of March, we have been standing where two seas meet — the one 
of sorrow, the other of joy — and they have both been git their highest 
flood. The peans of victory have been mingled wdth the funeral dirge. 
The sons of the Republic are returning in triumph from the war, but 
the Father of tlie country is gone. His spirit has passed into another 
world, wearing the gory crown of martyrdom. The foundation of our 
" second temple" — a regenerated nation — has been laid in our lirstborn, 
and we can but lift up our voice and w^eep. The hour seems sacred to 
grief; and the ministers of religion might notthis day complain if from every 
pulpit the people bade them retire and leave them to weep in silence. 
All hearts are overwhelmed with emotions too powerful for utterance. 
Our lips are dumb " because of thy judgments, Lord I " 

But we have occasion to sing oi mercy as well as of judgment to-day, 
and it is hard to "discern the noise of the shout of joy from the noise 
of the weeping of the people." 

AYe have occasion for praise in the integrity and uprightness of our 
departed chief; I shall not attempt to eulogise him. Eulogy mistakes 
her province when she chooses for her theme Abrauam Lincoln. He 
needs no Homer to celebrate his praise. His deeds have clothed him 
with an earthly immortality. He has a monument "more lasting than 
brass," and "higher than the pyramids," in the love of his country 
saved and the gratitude of millions whose broken fetters he carried in 
his hands when he ascended to the bosom of his God. Like Moses, who 
lead Israel from Egypt, he went up to Pisgah's top and viewed the 
promised land, and then "was not, for God took him." 

' ' The children of Israel wept for Moses thirty days in the land of 



6 

Moab." In our own and other lands millions weep for many days over 
Abraham Lincoln's death. Strong men whose cheeks blanched not 
before the storm of iron hail, of screaming shot and bursting shell, 
become children at the mention of his name, and exclaim "0 that 
my head were waters and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might 
weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people." 

From the assasination of the President wc learn a new lesson of the 
diabolical nature of treason. We had had portraits of its character be- 
fore — in the barbarity shown to the wounded and slain, in the massacre 
of hundreds after surrender, in the starvation of thousands upon thou- 
sands of helpless prisoners — but this last was its master-stroke. It was 
the limner's touch that finished tlie picture, and presented it to mankind 
in all its horrid and hideous proportions. 

Upon whom rests the awful guilt and responsibility of this crime ? 
Not alone upon him who fired the fatal weapon, and whom the ven- 
geance of (rod suffered not to live. Not alone upon the miserable 
wretches now on trial for their complicity ; but upon every aider and 
abettor of the Kebellion. Ministers who have preached peace and con- 
ciliation when they meant aid and comfort to the foe — Women who have 
spoken insultingly of the " boys in blue " — Men who liave disparaged 
our successes and magnified our disasters. — Upon ail these as well as 
upon Confederate soldiers in arms and the greater conspirators, rests the 
blood of our ruler, and all the innocent blood that has been shed during 
the war. In vain they wash their hands, like Pilot, and protest their 
innocency. They can never remove the stains. Through life they shall 
cry: 

" Here's the smell of the blood still ; 
All the perfumes of Arabia never 
(Jan sweeten these hands."' 

They arc verily guilty, for without their countenance Rebellion had 
never made such headway. Less than this, we may not say, lest we 
suffer sin to remain upon them. For such as have done it ignorantly 
there is mercy if they now repent. But the chief conspirators, who have 
sinned wilfully, must find no place for repentance, though they seek it 
carefully and with tears. Justice, public necessity, and the well being 
of millions through coming generations, demand the expiation of their 
great crime by the rendering up of their lives. 

Dark has been the cloud that for years past has hung over our land; 
abundant and terrible has been its red rain. Thank God its force is at 
length spent; its last bolt has been drawn. The bow of peace is 
painted on its brow. It spans the heavens in beauty, and touches the 



extremes of the uortliern and southern horizon. Beneath its triumphal 
arch we have seen returning to the Capitol the war-worn and glory- 
crowned armies of the Republic, amid the bursting plaudits of the 
nation saved by their valor on a hundred fields. Never was the Gov- 
ernment so strong — never was our country so secure. 

The good ship of State, against many difficulties, and amid many dan- 
gers, has descended the river from its source to its mouth. She has 
passed the narrows, and now feels the swell of the ocean, and spreads 
her sails to catch the freshening breeze. The pilot, who had served so 
well on the river, has landed on an immortal shore, and another, and 
perhaps stronger hand is on the lielm. Henceforth, with a crew of 
thirty millions, who are proud of the deck that bears them, she shall 
plough the briny billows. Already her hull is seen by distant nations, 
and the struggling peoples of all lands hail her with mingled emotions 
of fear and hope. Their voice comes to us over the waters. "Ship 
ahoy ! what cheer ? From whence do you sail ? with what are you 
freighted and whither bound ? " We sail from the port of the Immortal 
Declaration. We arc freighted with the blessings of Democracy and 
Constitutional Liberty. We visit every land, but chiefly the shores of 
the uVew World, to insure to its nationalities exemption from the inter- 
ference of the kings and despots of the old. 

Hark ! there comes responsive over the waters the melody of song. 
It is the voice of a great multitude singing for our cheer : 

" kSail on, ship of Stale ! 

Sail on, Union, strong and great ! 

Humanity, with all her fears, 

With all her hopes for coming years, 

Is hanging, breathless on thy fate."^ 

Let us, friends, regard tliis as a day of good tidings, as well as of 
sorrow. We have greater cause for joy than grief. All armed resist- 
ance to the Government has been overcome. The rebellion is ended. 
The arch traitor himself — like the devil, who sometimes transforms him- 
self into an angel of light — lias been taken in the guise of a woman. 
" Fo7' the greatness of his iniquity have his shirts heen discovered and 
his heels made hare^ This is the Lord's doing and it is marvellous in 
our eyes. "He hath not dealt so with any nation," let us therefore 
come into his presence with praise. Let the "noise of the shout of joy 
exceed the noise of the weeping of the people." Glory be to the Father 
and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost, as it was in the beginning, is 
now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. 



LB S '12 



